My credit score used to hover around 840. It was a point of pride that for over 20 years I have not paid a single bill late (I'm in my early 40s). I about keeled over in front of the computer when I did a routine score check last week and saw a 704! I got a three-bureau report and discovered I had an account in collections. Nothing else was listed as to the account, just a collection agency phone number. I learned from calling them that I had a $120 medical bill from an appointment in January that was assigned to them in late May. I did pay the collection agency immediately over the phone. They said they would delete the collections action, but I don't have this in writing.
I then called the billing department for the health care system. This bill was for our son, then 9 years old. They had our old address (we moved over 5 years ago) as his "guarantor" address, even though I had given them the updated address and they did have this correctly listed as his "patient" address. I am his guarantor, and we have the same family doctor. They checked my record, and same situation - they updated my "residence" address but left the old address in my 'guarantor' column as well. It never occurred to me I had to tell them to update both! So, we quite literally never received even one bill in the mail for this appointment. Further, even though they had our correct home phone number listed, they never once called, which the lady on the phone even stated should have occurred.
On the bright side - my spouse's score is still in the 840s, and, I don't plan on needing to use credit in the forseeable future (not for all of 2020 anyway). How long will my score take to improve? Any advice on whether this is worth using any sort of third party to resolve? Any other general advice?
